A moment hidden in my heart...

Let us be silent that we may hear
the whisper of God. -Emerson

Why adoption you might ask? Seriously, our kids are older (12, 10, 7) so we are out of the "baby" stage. We have zero for a baby, I've given it all away. Why start all over? Sleepless nights, diapers, bottles, less freedom, car seats, child proofing, diaper bags, baby food and various other things that I'm probably forgetting that are needed for a happy baby. All of which make me giddy. Tired, but giddy. Love it. Love the idea. Can't wait! Sure I could be nuts. That's okay if you think so, it doesn't hurt my feelings. Honest. I have my moments where I too think I might be nuts. ha ha!

I really do believe that this is God inspired. I believe at one particular moment in time God whispered in my ear and hid this desire in my heart. I know because, I know the moment it happened. Kyle and I have gone twice on a short-term mission trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil to work with an amazing group of people, Restoration Ministries. We left a piece of our hearts in Brazil each time with the families and children we met there. We love our Brazilian Brothers and Sisters and try to keep in contact with them. We hope to return again in the near future.

There was this one day in particular while we were working at the day center doing a vacation Bible school. I met the most beautiful brown-eyed little girl. She was shy. She would peek at me, but wasn't interested in coming to close. I would smile and wave and she'd look away. I was busy working, but was so drawn to this little girl I'd stop and try to get her smile every time I'd walk by. I was determined to get her to smile. Finally she warmed up to me and came and sat in my lap, we played and laughed. After awhile I hugged her and took her back to her Mother. When I did, I casually said to her Mom that I loved her daughter and I could just take her home with me. That was translated and the Mother said something back in Portuguese and handed her daughter back to me. Puzzled I looked for the translation and was told she says, "Please, please take her". It was like I had been punched in the stomach, I was speechless. I didn't know what to say. I know a nervous laugh came out of my mouth and I acted as if the Mother was just joking around with me. All the while fully knowing she was serious. If there had been a legal way to do so, she would have.

I have never seen that despair and anguish close up. The pain of a Mother who can not provide the life she wants for her child. A Mother who is uncertain where the next meal is coming from or how much longer they will have a roof over their head. I cried that night when we got back to our hotel. I cried not just for the beautiful brown eyed little girl I fell in love with, but for every child I met that day and the hardships their families face daily. I could not do one thing to better their life here on this earth. I felt helpless. I couldn't change their horrible living conditions, I couldn't provide nourishment to their hungry belly's on a daily basis, and I couldn't stay and daily show them the love they missed and desperately needed. I was only in the country for 10 days. I could do so little.

However, I do believe at that very moment God whispered to me there would be one I could help. One I would love and call my own. To wait for God's timing, but there would be one. Shortly after we returned from Brazil we thought it was going to be a 16 year old girl we met named Nina. I thought that was who God was calling us to bring to our home. We were ready to be Nina's parents. We were ready to bring her to live with us. However, it wasn't God's will. The Brazilian government would not let it happen. We were so sad. We thought we were doing God's will. Again God said to wait there would be one.

God opened my eyes to the poverty and despair in Brazil so that my heart would softened to it everywhere. So that when the time came I'd listen to God's gentle nudging. So that I'd keep the dialog open with Kyle about the topic so that one day he too would again feel the pull of God's calling. He did. God said there would be one, and we believe there is. When we read of the heart breaking need for adoptive parents in Ethiopia, our hearts jumped knowing this was what God was meaning for us. And here we are today. We are ready to bring home a baby boy from Ethiopia. We can't wait!

Garret Bball tonight!

 

 

 

 

What a fantastic game tonight! Not only did Garret score some points but he owned the court tonight. He normally doesn't play full court so he did need his inhaler tonight. haha. He looked great out there tonight. It was so fun to watch him play. Oh yeah and they won too. Wahoo!

Bryn's Cheer Competition today...

So we owe Brynlee five-bucks! I told her before they performed that if she made some silly faces i'd give her $5. We've noticed at all these competitions that the girls make these fun faces while they cheer and Brynlee practices them all the time in the mirror. But when it comes time to perform she's concentrating so hard on her routine she hardly remembers to smile. So today she actually made a few faces, 3 to be exact according to her! haha! She did great! We are so proud of her. Last night she prayed that God would let her team win first place and that she wouldn't mess up. Aren't children prayers sweet?

So watch this video that Kaelyn took with her camera and see if you can spot her "3-silly faces".

Garret's Basketball game

I forgot my camera but thankfully Kaelyn had her camera, so here are some shots she took. Garret's team had a rocky start to the first half, letting the other team get a pretty big lead. But they held them the 2nd half to only a few baskets. So that's good, right?

A few pics to share...

We had sooo many great shots to choose from after the photo shoot with my sister! We are still trying to pick out our favorites. Here are a few I wanted to share real fast!

Photo Shoot!

Just wanted to shout out to my sister, Bree, a big giant THANK YOU for taking our family pics today! The kids were less than cooperative, but Bree's a pro. Check out her site... Bree Hughes Photography she takes amazing pictures!

I got a little emotional today when I thought about how this picture will be the first picture our new baby will see of us. So exciting!

I'll post a pic soon!

Ask. Seek. Knock.

Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
For everyone who asks receives;
he who seeks finds;
and to him who knocks,
the door will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8

So our adoption contract finally made it to us today. Yeah! We now have 30 days to read the contract, have it notarized, and return it with the first large sum of money. Yikes. And now the weight of it all it sets in. Remember my TRUST post...I'm still trusting. I'm still waiting. I know that God wants us to adopt this baby. This beautiful baby He has already chosen to be apart of our family. I can't wait to meet this special baby. Our baby is already loved, even though we have yet to see his/her face. We knew going into this that God was going to have to work in HUGE ways to make this adoption even possible, financially speaking. And we trust that He will. So we are anxiously awaiting Gods instructions to what comes next. We will ask. We will seek. We will knock.

Garret's history project

Well its official, Garret knows more about computers than I do. Well, I think he has for awhile now. He had to do a report for History, his chosen topic was World War 1 and why the US entered the war. Part of this report required creating a visual piece to go with the speech. I figured we'd get out the cardboard, mod podge, various scrapbook supplies and whip up some sort of submarine. Garret was not allowed to have any parental help with this project, so he opted to teach himself how to use Flash and create a video as his visual. So here is his first official Flash project...next thing you know he'll be making full on cartoons. Pixar, Dreamworks, and Disney better keep their eye on this guy! haha!

Brynlee finally loses some teeth!

She's waited soooo long to finally lose a tooth. For some reason her two bottom baby teeth just wouldn't come out on their own! Her two adult teeth have already come in behind them. So the dentist pulled out the baby teeth today. She was a trooper, and she's super excited to finally have teeth to put under her pillow! Tooth fairy better not forget. haha!